Recently I attended the Aging Driving Mobility Forum, where experts from numerous fields and from across North America came together to try to find solutions for aging drivers. You can find my report, on Canadian Driver, by clicking here.
I spent the morning at a symposium on aging drivers, and it certainly opened my eyes. I'll be putting together a full article on it, but even before I get into that, it's given me a lot to ponder.
I watched my grandfather lose his license, and my father-in-law, and it was not an easy experience for either of them. The symposium touched on a lot of issues, such as restricted licensing rather than simply taking the license away; how to realize when you're no longer able to drive, and the need to self-regulate; issues surrounding alternatives, such as lack of public transit, especially in a rural area such as where I live; and whether elderly drivers are overrepresented in crash statistics.
Time catches up to you before you even realize it's there. Yesterday, I was 25, or so it seems; the reality is that I'll be 50 next winter. I like to think I'm as sharp as I ever was, especially since I've had the opportunity to take numerous driving and racing instructions thanks to my job. But when I stop and look at it with an objective eye, I do notice that I don't drive as fast as I used to, and I tend to wait a couple of seconds longer to be sure that traffic has cleared before I make my turns. I also find that I make more "final checks" than I used to do -- and I know it's because I'm making sure I haven't misgauged the speed of oncoming cars.
So given that, will I know when the time comes? Will I be smart enough to say that I'm not fit to do this, or will I be the senior citizen who needs intervention before I'll give up a license I no longer deserve to hold?
It's a tough thing, this getting older, especially since we all feel that we're the first people to ever go through it. When my grandfather was 95, he was interviewed by a magazine, and he said that he didn't recognize the old, wrinkled man he saw in the mirror. I was 33 at the time and didn't understand what he meant. It was a bit of a shock the day I looked in the mirror and did.
I’m a freelance writer and a member of the Automobile Journalists of Canada. My regular outlets include new-car reviews and special-interest articles for The Toronto Star (Wheels section); new-car reviews and news reports for Canadian Driver, where I’m also the Assistant Editor; articles on antique cars for Old Autos Newspaper; and articles in the industry trade magazine Tire News.
But I’m more than just cars: I also write about food and drink, travel, pen collecting, celebrity interviews and pets, among others. My work has appeared in such publications as Harrowsmith Country Life, Pen World, Dogs In Canada, Where New Orleans, Rural Delivery and Writer’s Journal.
